Nina had spent the time during their final approach to the manor wondering about what kind of reception they would receive. Just about everything from being welcomed by two neat rows of maids to being ushered in the back door out of sight had crossed her mind, but when she finally stepped out of the carriage she found that their reception was somewhere in the middle.

The manor itself was large, but not as large as Nina was expecting from something that sat on such lavish grounds. Two storeys high and made from grey stone like just about every other building she had seen, the manor stretched away on each side of her before turning away from them at ninety degrees to form a U shape. Large glass windows with ornate steel framing sat on each floor at regular intervals overlooking the well maintained gardens, while a red tiled roof capped the entire thing off.

The carriages peeled away from the driveway as a neatly dressed butler stepped out from the pair of large wooden double doors that served as the front entrance to the manor. His pale blue eyes scanned the group as Nina examined his thin grey hair and matching beard before he turned to Reina.

“Welcome to the estate,” he said with a curt bow. “Is there only five of you? I was led to believe there were seven in your group.”

“You’re correct,” Reina smiled as she made her way up the stone steps that lay before them. “The other two are taking care of some other business and will be with us shortly.”

“Very well,” the man replied, although Nina felt that she could detect a trace of displeasure in his response. She guessed that it was because they were also dealing with a group from the Merchant District. “Kromald will see you now.”

Reina nodded as she followed the butler through the door, Nina joining the rest of the group once she realised that the invitation seemed to extend to all of them. Once inside she found that the light pouring in through the massive windows created a pleasant atmosphere in the square space, although the layout inside rather typical. A large wooden staircase sat in front of them, running up the centre before joining on to walkways that ran along each wall. A couple of maids attended to decorations around the room which included portraits that sat on the walls and some sparse furniture that was littered around the otherwise quiet space. Following as the butler ignored the maids and led them to a door on one side, she hid a frown as she had hoped that Reina would deal with these kinds of meetings by herself. Or with Svanda, at least, but it seemed that her hopes would not be realised as she filed into a sitting room behind the others to be met with a few new faces.

“Sit,” said a man who sat at the centre of a large red sofa. Like the butler, he had grey hair with a neat beard that framed a square face, his heavyset jaw clamped down on a cigar as his dark eyes examined the group. Wearing a clean blue suit with a flowing white cravat around his neck, Nina guessed that this man was the head of the Inin family, Kromald.

“Thank you again for having us,” Reina smiled as she sat down before motioning for the rest of the group to follow her. The sofas seemed to be set up in some form of arrangement for negotiations, with two central seats facing each other while others were angled in at each side. Kromald sat in one of the central seats, and now that Reina had filled the other, the remaining members of the group sat behind her in pairs on each side.

“I prepared an extra seat, but it seems you don’t need it,” Kromald said as he nodded in the direction of the final seat on their side which sat directly behind Reina. “I was told that there were seven in your group.”

“Attending to business in the Merchant District sir,” the butler chimed in. He hadn’t taken a seat, instead choosing to stand off to the side. That wasn’t to say that Kromald hadn’t brought anyone to his side of the table, however, as there were still two more faces that Nina was now studying while trying not to be caught doing so.

She snuck a look at the person who sat to Kromald’s left, a youngish man in a black suit with dark eyes like Kromald himself. With a wave of blonde hair and high cheeks, Nina noted his casual smile as he calmly examined their group. He was attractive, but Nina thought it was partly because of the slightly mysterious air about him. Not for her, mysteries were not something that she was fond of.

“Do you mind if I ask who you’re doing business with?” Kromald asked, although his tone had noticeably hardened as he flicked ash from his cigar into a tray that sat on the table between them. It seemed that unlike the butler, he didn’t particularly care if his displeasure was evident.

“NNZ,” Reina replied with a casual wave of her hand. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“I see,” he mused as he examined the ember at the end of the cigar. Apparently NNZ weren’t a problem because after a moment his expression returned to normal as though nothing had happened. “By the way, this is eldest son Andus and my eldest daughter Rucille. The pair have been taking on added responsibilities at the estate lately.”

“Congratulations,” Reina said with a smile while the pair nodded in response, Nina using the distraction to turn her attention from Andus to Rucille. With a lithe figure, she was noticeably plain compared to the other two, although she shared their dark and intelligent eyes and wore the same casual smile. With a slightly upturned nose and light brown hair that was pulled behind her head in a simple pony tail, Nina wouldn’t have thought much of her if she wasn’t wearing a simple but exquisitely made grey dress that ran down to her ankles. Unlike the nobles that she had seen from the carriage earlier on, she wasn’t weighed down by a mountain of jewellery either, instead opting for a simple silver chain around her neck.

“So, you have them?” Kromald asked to change the topic.

Reina didn’t reply, instead placing an open palm out over her shoulder and waiting for Svanda to place the wooden box in her hand. Once she had, she dropped the box onto the table between them and sat back in the chair. Nina watched as Kromald took the box and wordlessly passed it to Rucille, who clasped it tightly with a smile.

“Count them,” he growled before pausing as she fumbled with the latch. “After you get back to the lab.”

“Don’t worry, they’re there,” Reina smiled. Nina looked over to Jade to see that she had a small frown on her face, probably thinking that she was lucky to not have removed any when she wanted to. Kromald seemed to be a hard man, but also a fair man if you did the right thing. That was her first impression at least.

“So, will you be staying long then? What are your plans?”

“A couple of weeks, depending on if we need to play hardball over anything,” Reina shrugged. “As our backer I was hoping that you could put some feelers out to the other estates to let them know that we’re around for a while. We’ll pay introduction fees, of course.”

“Of course,” Kromald agreed. Nina didn’t know if that was ‘of course we will put feelers out’ or ‘of course you will pay introduction fees,’ but it probably didn’t matter in the end. “I will send Andus with you. As my successor, you’ll be dealing with him a lot more in the near future, so starting now will be good for you.”

And now a leash? Nina thought.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to that,” Reina smiled. “Confidentiality between us and our customers is important in this line of work. I assume you wouldn’t want everyone to know what exactly is in that box either, would you?” she asked as she nodded at the box of seeds in Rucille’s hands.

“Fine,” Kromald conceded after thinking for a moment as he stood up. “Your place is untouched from last time, so if you want someone to clean it just ring the bell. Like always, you’re free to use the estate grounds as long as you don’t go near the laboratory or the family quarters, and you know how to call a carriage. Rucille is heading in that direction so she will escort you most of the way.”

“Thanks as always,” Reina smiled as she stood up. “If you or any of the other houses would like to organise something, you know where to find us during the next couple of weeks.”

“Of course,” Kromald said as he followed the butler to the door, waiting for him to open it before stepping through and disappearing into the hallway beyond. Andus followed him after giving the group a curt nod, leaving Rucille standing with the rest of the group.

“He’s such a bore,” she sighed once the door had closed behind them. “Dragging me to these meetings, not bothering to serve any tea, and then he even cuts it short once he’s seen what he wants to see.”

“Short and to the point isn’t so bad,” Reina smiled as her gaze lingered on Rucille’s dress. “It’s better than the people who try to talk all day to knock the price down by a few percent. Usually they’re just wasting everybody’s time.”

“Hmm, is that so?” Rucille thought for a moment before walking to the door and pushing it open. “Maybe you’re right after all. It’s more reasonable than any of the advice that father has given me since we started this farce.”

“Glad to be of help,” Reina replied as she stepped through the door and looked over her shoulder at the group. “Shall we head to the house then?”